Identifying Insects

We will identify all insects to their taxonomic ORDER. Identifying insects to the Order level is easier than it might sound. Most people already recognize the common orders (beetles, dragonflies, mayflies, bugs, butterflies, flies, grasshoppers, etc.), they just have to learn the scientific names for each group. We will discuss insect taxonomy when school resumes.

The easiest online guide I have found to find the ORDER name for insects is a website called BugGuide.Net. Click on the button below to go to BugGuide.Net and identify the order of your insects.

Going Further - Do you want to be an Insect Detectives?

Once you have identified the ORDER for your insects I encourage you to find more information. It is exciting and interesting to identify the species name for each of your insects. There are many strategies for identifying your insects to the species level.

Strategy #1: Find a a matching picture on the internet. One way to identify the species of your insect is to find a matching picture on the internet which might provide clues to the identity of your insect. Just type a short description of the insect into Google and and then surf through Google images. The captions of images sometimes contain taxonomic or common names. Once you find an image on the internet that provides a clue just copy and paste the information from the image caption into the search bar on Google or on the Bug-guide.net website to investigate further. You might also find clues that help you identify your insect on Wikipedia.

Strategy #2: Find the insect in a field guide. There are many hard copy (printed) "field guides" that can be used to identify insects. Three we will use in class are...

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects & Spiders: North America

Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America

A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America

Strategy #3: Ask an expert on the web. Another helpful way is to upload a digital picture to bug guide.net or project NOAH and ask someone on the web to help you identify your insect. Mr. Delemeester has accounts at these sites, so if we are stumped we might choose this option.